Mukesh Batra to write book on his chain of homeopathy clinics, journey as an entrepreneur

Dr Mukesh Batra, founder of Dr Batra’s chain of homeopathy clinics, traces his journey as well as his company’s in his part memoir-part guidebook. The Nation’s Homeopath: How Dr Batra’s Became the World’s Largest Chain of Homeopathy Clinics is an unusual tale of entrepreneurship, risk appetite, resilience and self-belief, according to its publishers HarperCollins India. From humble beginnings with a clinic in Chowpatty, Bombay in 1982, Dr Mukesh Batra, son of a homeopath and his allopathic doctor wife, now manages over 200 clinics in seven countries and in 150 cities of India. In the early 80s, when loans were not readily available, Dr Mukesh Batra borrowed money at a staggering interest rate of 36 percent per annum. And since then, he has been leading an eventful life. A Padma Shri recipient, Dr Mukesh Batra has treated celebrities, including presidents, prime ministers, actors, sportsmen, artists, among others, as well as the common man for decades. Along the way, he has defied death on multiple occasions, has known love and heartache and has experienced failure in some business ventures. The Nation’s Homeopath is the story of “my personal experiences as a medical professional and an entrepreneur. The reader will get a ringside seat of the mistakes I’ve made and how I converted challenges into opportunities and failures into success”, he says. Sachin Sharma, senior commissioning editor at HarperCollins India, describes the book as a “thoroughly gripping read, that is honest, witty and a guide for the budding entrepreneur”. In the book, he also mentions how Dr Batra’s focused on 4Cs — communication, continuity, cost-cutting and compassion — to deal with the challenges posed by COVID-19. He says if cancer is the big C, so is COVID-19. “And we focused on 4Cs to deal with this C. Communication was one. We kept talking to employees and patients. Continuity was another — as much as possible we saw to it that there was no break in treatments. The third ‘‘C’’ was cost-cutting. Compassion was the last ‘‘C’’,” he says. Spelling out some challenges during the pandemic, Dr Mukesh Batra writes, “The supply chain and market disruption during COVID-19, together with a reduction in the sales team and health advisers, meant that unsold goods over a few months were lying in the market. This meant going to each of the 200 distributors and agreeing to change unsold stock with fast-moving products. This led to further financial losses which were not anticipated.” But through all the problems, he said he continued to innovate. “We launched new products, some of them necessitated by coronavirus, like alcohol-based hand sanitisers… This not only increased our product portfolio and excited the marketplace, but also added to our turnover and profitability.” He also says Dr Batra’s state-of-the-art clinical management system (CMS) also helped the company to treat patients during the pandemic, as its doctors could use the systems and databases while working from home.